Chapter 118
Find me.
Alice heard a voice echo as she wandered through endless darkness.
Find you? Where?
Where I’m worshipped.
What are you talking about?
Alice thought this in the darkness. Then someone let out a sigh.
And then came another voice.
You’ve recovered enough now. Wake up, Han Soo-yeon.
Her past life’s name. The moment that name was called, Alice’s eyes snapped open.
Blink, blink—
Alice blinked hazily for a moment, unable to clear her mind, her vision blurry.
As her sight gradually sharpened, she saw the familiar ceiling. It was her own bedroom.
Why am I lying here? I was definitely… at the hunting grounds.
Remembering the moments before she lost consciousness, Alice suddenly sat up.
“Hasis!”
She couldn’t be lying here right now. She had to catch that bastard Hasis.
She’d definitely seen him fall.
No other thoughts entered her mind. Focused only on Hasis, just as she tried to get out of bed, someone grabbed her arm.
“Alice, are you conscious?”
That familiar deep voice. Alice turned her head.
Kylus was looking at her. A soft light flickered across Kylus’s face.
Only then did Alice regain some clarity. She slowly began to understand where she was and what was happening.
Looking around, she noticed the magical lamps casting their gentle glow through the dark room. The light rippling across Kylus’s face came from those lamps.
And if the magical lamps were lit, it meant the sun had set.
Alice glanced out the window. The sky that had been bright when she collapsed was now pitch black. Quite a lot of time had passed.
Alice whipped her head back to Kylus and asked.
“What time is it now?”
“It’s 2 AM.”
“Then the hunting competition…”
“It’s over. How could they continue a hunting competition when a Duchess was attacked? Even the party scheduled after the hunt was cancelled.”
She’d expected as much, but…
Having it confirmed that this was real and truly over felt like someone had poured cold water over her head, clearing her mind sharply.
“It’s over? Then did they catch the one who attacked me? He had definitely fallen at the scene…”
“…No. When I found you, there was no one there except for a collapsed noblewoman.”
No one there? But she’d definitely seen him lying there…
Hasis must have regained consciousness while she was out and escaped.
Alice clenched her fist. To let a fish she’d already caught slip away right before her eyes!
Alice fidgeted in frustration before asking Kylus.
“Then was there at least a pendant or something dropped there?”
Please, at least that. Then she could use it as evidence.
Alice looked at Kylus with desperate eyes, but he shook his head.
“There was nothing there.”
“Ah, no… I can’t let it end like this…”
Alice let out a despairing sigh and grabbed her hair.
This had been her only chance to catch the Empress and Hasis.
Plus, it had been the perfect opportunity to reveal to Kylus that the Empress was his enemy.
To miss both opportunities. Now what would she do?
With the Empress even using magic unlike in the original story, if she missed this opportunity… would there be another?
Alice felt her vision go white.
Maybe Kylus just didn’t notice. Since I didn’t see it myself, if I go to the hunting grounds now…
“Your Grace, I need to go to the hunting grounds. There’s definitely something there.”
“…The hunting grounds are already closed. And you can’t enter the imperial estate without permission. Alice, please calm down first.”
“How can I calm down? I need to find something Hasis left behind to bring down the Empress!”
“So it really was the Empress who attacked you today.”
Alice stopped mid-outburst at Kylus’s words.
So it was the Empress? What… what does that mean?
Alice slowly repeated the words that had puzzled her most.
“…So?”
“I suspected the Empress was involved from the moment I saw the Second Prince’s expression when Lady Viscount was carried out on a stretcher. I knew the Empress was the one you feared.”
“…?”
Alice’s golden eyes trembled.
“I also know it was the Empress who sent assassins to the Duchy, and that you deliberately brought the Third Prince to my side.”
Kylus sighed deeply and continued.
“You probably wanted to use me to eliminate the Empress. By putting the Third Prince forward as the next Crown Prince. Even today, you deliberately sent me away because of Lady Viscount Rosetta.”
At Kylus’s calm explanation, Alice’s golden eyes widened.
“How did you… know all of that…”
When Alice was too shocked to continue, Kylus released her arm and said.
“Alice. I went to the battlefield at twelve and single-handedly reclaimed House Dearrut, building our family back up. If I lacked even this much perception, I would’ve died on the battlefield long ago.”
So Kylus had noticed everything all along.
Alice looked into those unwavering black eyes and asked.
“If you knew everything… why did you pretend not to? When a mere country noble like me suspected the Empress and brought the mysterious Third Prince… why didn’t you doubt me?”
Alice truly couldn’t understand.
If he’d really noticed everything, he should’ve been suspicious, not just pretended ignorance. That’s what she would have done.
Wasn’t it strange no matter how she thought about it? A country lady who’d never been to the capital knowing imperial secrets?
Then why did he just leave me alone?
Kylus studied Alice before answering.
“You seemed unwilling to talk about it, so I didn’t ask. And I trust you absolutely. I promised, didn’t I? Alice, whatever you say, I’ll believe your words.”
He gazed into her eyes and said.
“From the moment you saved my life, you’ve been my only faith.”
“…”
Alice was momentarily speechless. Because she could feel Kylus’s sincerity so clearly.
His eyes held a fervor that seemed ready to kiss her very feet if she wished it.
Kylus briefly lowered his gaze as if suppressing the intensity directed at Alice, then rose from where he’d been sitting on the bed.
He carefully placed his hands on her shoulders.
“So Alice, please rest for now. I already know the Empress’s true nature, and Lady Viscount is under the Duchy’s protection. Your well-being matters more to me than anything else.”
“…So you’ve been nursing me here all this time?”
“Yes. I intend to stay by your side tonight. It puts my mind at ease.”
Kylus gently pressed her shoulders as if telling her to lie down.
But Alice didn’t lie down. She grabbed Kylus’s hand instead. She lifted her head to meet his gaze.
Kylus’s eyes held confusion, but Alice couldn’t hold back anymore. She had to ask him.
“Your Grace, why are you so good to me? Even if I saved your life, this is too much… it’s excessive.”
Yes, it really was too much. No matter how she was his savior, if he worried about her this much, if he cared for her like something precious, how could she not misunderstand?
Whether it was because she wasn’t feeling well, or drunk on the dawn air, the emotions Alice had been suppressing exploded.
As Alice lowered her gaze to suppress her feelings, Kylus’s eyebrow twitched up slightly.
“Do you really not know?”
A voice full of disbelief. Alice stubbornly lifted her chin.
She looked straight into his black eyes and shouted.
“Your Grace never says exactly what you mean, so how am I supposed to know!”
“This is driving me mad. I can’t believe you didn’t realize despite all my obvious hints.”
Letting out a scoff of disbelief, Kylus continued before Alice could protest.
“Fine. I’ll tell you my feelings for you clearly.”
Kylus erased the smile from his lips and sat facing Alice with a serious expression.
He opened his mouth, staring at her with intense eyes.
“I love you. Enough to sacrifice my life for you, I love you with everything I have.”
What…?
Alice gaped in disbelief at what she’d just heard.
What did I just hear?
Kylus… loves me? He really loves me?
She’d wondered if he might have feelings for her. Yes, because he’d been so kind to her.
But since their relationship had begun with holy power, Alice hadn’t been certain.
She kept thinking he wanted her holy power, not her.
“…You said you needed my holy power. But suddenly… saying you love me. Is it true?”
She asked again, still unable to believe it.
“At first… even I didn’t fully understand my own heart. But I quickly realized. What I wanted wasn’t your holy power but you, Alice—you yourself. I truly love you.”
Kylus said it again. That it was true.
At that, Alice’s heart raced wildly. Unbearably so.
The man I love, loves me. What happens to us now?
Happy, overwhelmed, and somehow confused all at once, her mind was in chaos.
Whether aware of Alice’s confusion or not, Kylus smiled and placed his hand on her cheek.
“Alice, what about you? Do you truly feel nothing for me? Do I… disgust you?”
